


100 Days of High School

by MissMarlot



Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: F/M, Ferb is awesome, High School, Phineas thinks his love is unrequited when it's not, Pining, Teenage!Phinbella, dumb teenagers in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2016-01-02
Packaged: 2018-05-07 06:17:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5446289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissMarlot/pseuds/MissMarlot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I wish! I am so in the friendzone there.” - Phineas Flynn (Act Your Age)</p><p>A collection of one-shots set during the gang's high school years, in which Phineas is convinced Isabella only sees him as a friend, nobody has any idea he feels that way and Isabella has given up on anything ever happening between them.</p><p>Contains pining, teenage crushes and everyone being utterly clueless.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The day Phineas got turned into a dog

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! This fic will be a collection of mostly unconnected oneshots, in which I explore how Phineas must have fared during those years he thought he was 'so in the friendzone'. Basically, this story tries to stick to canon. So Act Your Age is set after this story.

The other boys were still laughing, despite Phineas displaying his most impressive growl yet.

 _Very funny_ , Phineas thought sourly.

Ferb had just managed to calm down enough to turn his attention back to the machine (hopefully to turn Phineas BACK INTO A PERSON), when he heard the single most terrifying thing in the world.

Their mother calling his name in her I-am-seriously-furious-with-you-voice.

“FERB! COME OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!”

Ferb’s eyes widened, before he immediately dropped everything to rush inside. Still cackling, Buford and Baljeet followed him to see what Ferb did to get himself into trouble with their mother.

 _Great timing, Mom!_ , Phineas thought, annoyed at having to stay a dog for any longer than necessary. They must have placed dog hair in the machine they built before Phineas got in it.  
Those pranksters.

He was considering following them, when the most amazing scent hit him. Sweet, wonderful and beckoning. He absolutely had to know what it was and bottle it up to spray it on everything he owned. So he turned around and followed his nose out of the backyard and across the street to where Isabella had just stepped out of her mother’s car.

 _It’s Isabella_ , Phineas realized, _of course it is._ _God, she smells amazing._

Phineas stuck his snout into Isabella’s calf, the only part he could reach, and sniffed greedily.

As soon as his cold nose touched her bare skin, Isabella squeaked and whirled around.

 _Oh no,_ Phineas thought.

Much to his surprise though, Isabella’s face brightened.

“Pinky! Aw, did you miss me? Did you come greet me at the door? Yes, you did! You are such a good boy!” she cooed and reached down to pick him up. Phineas was too dumbfounded by the fact that Isabella thought he was her pet, that he let her pick him up and carry him into the house.

 _No wait!_ , Phineas thought, _Ferb doesn’t know where I am, he will freak out when he comes back just to find me gone without a trace._

Phineas started wriggling in Isabella’s arms, but she just tightened her grip on him. “Ha! You can forget about that right now, Pinky, because I am the person and you are the dog and I want to cuddle,” she told him with a grin, before she started cooing again, “And you have no choice, hm? Who is Isabella’s good boy? Is it you? Yes it is!”

Phineas was horrified to find his tail wagging like crazy at Isabella wanting to cuddle him and calling him her ‘good boy’.

 _Okay, wow, the faster I get turned back the better_ , he thought, utterly mortified. Isabella moved him around a bit in her arms and before he knew it, Phineas’ snout was buried in Isabella’s neck. Her scent was even better there and he got utterly distracted with sniffing her and wagging his tail for a few seconds. When he pulled himself away from Isabella’s seriously amazing smell, he noticed that Isabella had brought him into her room. He had only been in her room a handful of times and even then, it had been a few years since he stepped foot in it. It was cute and homey and _very_ Isabella.

 _I should spend more time in here_ , he thought. An image of him and Isabella sitting on her bed together, Isabella’s head on his shoulder flashed through his mind, before he could help himself. _I need to get a grip._

Isabella pressed a kiss to the top of his head and he sighed internally at his own antics as his tail started wagging again. _Thank God humans don’t have tails revealing their every emotion or I’d already have died of embarrassment._

Not wanting to get distracted with her smell a third time, he started to plan his daring escape. But then Isabella’s gentle hands started to pet him and he just melted.

_Holy crap, is this nice. She better not stop._

“Aw, you like that, Pinky? You are being so good today! Who deserves extra cuddles? That’s right! It’s you!”

Isabella deposited him on the bed and he unashamedly rolled onto his back so she could scratch his tummy, too, but instead she turned away to close the door.

“No escaping for you today, Pinky-Pink!” she announced with a smile.

 _Really? Oh well_ , Phineas thought. He rolled back onto his stomach in order to stick his nose into Isabella’s pillow, but was frozen by the sight of Isabella removing her dress. Phineas caught a flash of pale, creamy skin and immediately threw himself onto his back again, covering his eyes with his paws.

_Isabella can never know about this._

In that moment, Phineas decided that Isabella would never learn that this incident occurred.

“Pinky, such a gentleman today?” she cooed and Phineas got distracted from the spiral of shame he had found himself in by Isabella finally scratching his belly.

When he moved his paws from his eyes again in order to give Isabella a big doggie grin, he could see she had changed into comfortable home clothing, she obviously didn’t intend to leave the house again.

 _This is killing me, how can anyone look this cute in sweatpants?_ , Phineas thought.

Isabella laid down on the bed and placed him on her belly. While it was an odd angle to look at Isabella’s face, it was an ideal angle to look at, uh, _other areas_ of her body. She was lovingly running her hands over him.

“You are such a good sport today, Pinky. You never let me cuddle you this long!”

If that was true the real, actual Pinky was an idiot, because nothing could be better than this.

Humming softly to herself, Isabella continued cuddling and stroking him, until he could barely keep his eyes open. It was heaven, having her gentle hands on him while being surrounded by her amazing smell.

“Are you gonna fall asleep on me? You are such a cutie! Yes, you are!”

 _Yes, I am_ , thought Phineas. He really was about to fall asleep when Isabella’s phone rang. She winced, as the dog on her lap stirred again.

“Sorry, Pinky! Just hang on a sec,” she said and reached for the phone. “It’s Ferb? That’s weird.”

Phineas jumped up. Ferb! He forgot all about the stupid prank and his brother. He must be worried sick!

Before Isabella could answer it, he jumped up and stole the phone out of her hand before making a dash for the door. It was closed, but he still started to desperately claw at it.

“What’s gotten into you, Sweetie? Do you have to pee?” Isabella asked, approaching him slowly as if not to spook him.

Phineas just started jumping up and down, adding a pathetic whining noise into the mix.

“Okay, okay. Just hold on, here-“ Isabella opened the door and Phineas made a run for it.

He dropped the phone once it stopped ringing and as he ran through the back door, he spotted the real Pinky lying on the rug in the living room.

 _Perfect_ , thought Phineas as he left the house and hid in the backyard.

He could see Isabella through the glass door as she looked around and found the real Pinky. Picking him up, as well as her phone, she returned to her room.

 _Lucky_ , thought Phineas. He casually made his way back to his own backyard, where Ferb was pacing anxiously, fiddling with his phone.

He looked up after a short bark from Phineas caught his attention. The sheer relief on his face made Phineas feel insanely guilty for wasting so much time at Isabella’s.

Ferb rushed towards him and picked him up and crushed him to his chest for a few moments.

“Oh, there you are, Phineas,” he said and deposited him on the machine.

A few uncomfortable seconds later, Phineas was back on two legs and hands with opposable thumbs.

“Sorry we turned you into a dog,” Buford said.

“I forgive you” _because I actually had a really great time,_ “I’m sorry for worrying you guys, I shouldn’t have run away.”

Ferb put his arm around and ruffled his hair and Phineas knew there were no bad feelings all around.

“Where did you go anyway?”, Baljeet asked, removing the dog hair from the machine as to avoid any more ‘accidents’.

“Isabella came home and confused me with Pinky, it took a while until I got away,” Phineas explained as vaguely as possible.

Oddly, all the boys around him winced. “Let me guess: Smothering galore? Terrible baby talk? Have you been put off females forever?” Buford asked with pity in his voice and patted his shoulder.

“What? No. It was nice?” Phineas answered, not really understanding the question.

“No need to lie, buddy. There’s a reason Pinky shakes in terror all the time.”


	2. The day Isabella gave up on Phineas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A kind of angst-y one-shot exploring Isabella giving up on the crush that she had held onto for most of her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one-shot takes place in their freshman year. In 'Act Your Age' Isabella says that she gave up on Phineas once they got to high school. This is that.

Somebody was knocking on the front door with great force.

It was already dark out and not really a normal time for surprise visitors, but when Phineas went to answer the door anyway, he found an obviously emotional Isabella standing outside.

Her eyes were red, her lip was trembling. She wasn’t crying but it was clearly only a matter of time.

But before Phineas could reach for her and ask her what was wrong, she determinedly rushed past him into the house.

“What? Wait!” Phineas said and went after her, but she was already walking up the stairs like a girl on a mission.

“Ferb’s in your room, right? Great,” she said, without looking at him or waiting for an answer.

She ripped open the door to their room, where a startled Ferb dropped the pen he was holding.

Isabella entered the room and immediately closed the door in front of Phineas’ face.

Before Phineas could react, he heard the lock click shut.

“Okay? I guess, I will leave you alone then?” he said, completely confused by what was happening. He waited another few moments for Isabella to open the door or anything to happen. When nothing did, he reluctantly went back downstairs to wait them out.

 

 

Inside the room, Isabella leaned against the door she had just closed and tried to gather herself.

Ferb was looking at her shrewdly.

When she had taken a moment, she took a deep breath, looked Ferb in the eye and said: “Phineas does not return my feelings, does he?”

Ferb’s gaze softened, as he shook his head no.

Isabella closed her eyes to ward off her tears and sighed, before opening them again.

“That’s what I thought,” she whispered, then with more strength she told him, “I am giving up on him. I’m not going to- I will stop trying to get him to see me as more than a friend.”

Finally, Ferb got up from his desk chair, to take Isabella in his arms.

It was then that Isabella started to cry.

“I told the girls today and they just didn’t believe me. They said I’ll never give up on Phineas, that I’m like one of those creepy stalker girls on TV,” Isabella blubbered, tears running down her face and onto Ferb’s shirt, “Well, they didn’t say that _exactly,_ but they said that I’m like one of those girls hopelessly in love with the main character who never gets the boy but is still always after him. And, let’s face it, everyone finds them creepy and stalker-ish. But I’m not kidding, Ferb, I mean it. No more manipulating the situation or failed flirting or hoping for more. Because there is never going to be more. It’s never going to happen.”

Ferb stroked her hair comfortingly and she knew he believed her. He lifted his hand from her hair to grab a tissue out of the box on his desk.

She managed a small smile when he handed it to her.

“Thank you. I know it’s not going to be easy and that it’s going to suck, but I have to move on. I’m so unhappy. I’m unhappy and I’m scared that eventually I’m going to start resenting Phineas for it. But it’s not his fault he doesn’t feel the same way. I just have to deal with it like a big girl and move on.”

With a sigh, Isabella lifted her head from Ferb’s shoulder and took another tissue to rub at the wet spots she had left on his shirt.

“Honestly, I don’t even know who I am if I’m not in love with Phineas,” she admitted, as more tears escaped.

“Well, then it’s high time to find out, isn’t it?” he said and pushed Isabella into the chair he had vacated moments earlier. He swiveled the chair around so she would face his desk, where she found a list of all the extracurricular and clubs their high school offered. The school year had only started a few short weeks ago, so they hadn’t joined any yet, but Phineas had expressed an interest in keeping his afternoon as free as possible, so she had planned to do the same. Now she wasn’t so sure.

Ferb had ticked off ‘soccer’ and ‘student government’. Next to student government, he had written ‘start on campaign plans’ in his perfect penmanship.

“You want to join student government? What will you campaign for?” she asked.

He only raised an eyebrow and Isabella gasped.

“What? Seriously? You are going to run for president? But we’re only freshmen!”

He opened his mouth to reply, but Isabella already knew what he was going to say.

“I know, I know, when has your age ever stopped you from doing what you want. I mean, it’s pretty crazy, but I’ll vote for you.”

“Wonderful. And I will vote for you,” he replied and gave her a meaningful look.

“You can’t be serious,” she said.

He smiled.

“You want me to run as well? As what? Vice president?” she asked dubiously.

He nodded.

She was about to start ranting about how outrageous it was for a freshman to run as vice president (let alone president!), when she started to think about it. _Really_ think about it.

How freaking fun it would be to run a student government together with Ferb.

She always did like being in charge.

And soccer.

And dancing.

And singing.

And playing the violin.

She swiveled the chair back towards the desk, took a pink pen out of the repurposed cup and started ticking off the clubs and extracurriculars that interested her. She noticed Ferb grin when she put a big fat check mark by ‘student government’ right next to his own little mark.

A few moments later the paper was covered in pink.

“You don’t mind if I borrow this, do you?” she asked.

He shook his head and gave her a fond smile.

“Thanks, Ferb. I really needed this. I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t have you to talk to,” she said, as got up to give him another hug.

“Oh, you won’t tell Phineas about this, right?” she asked gratefully, knowing full well how much it meant that Ferb was willing to keep her secrets, even from his own brother.

He gave her two thumbs up.

 

It took a while, but eventually Isabella emerged from their room, eyes still red but a smile on her face. Phineas knew her well enough to know that she had cried.

“Isabella, what is going on?” he asked, but she just waved him off.

“It’s nothing, really, I just had to talk to Ferb about something.”

He put his hands on her arms and looked at her searchingly. She seemed fine. In her hands, she was wringing a piece of paper, which she definitely wasn’t holding when she came in.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“Plans for the future,” she said, “I’m sorry, but I think I’ll be too busy for after school projects with you guys.”

“Oh, okay. It won’t be the same without you,” he said. He was confused though, Isabella loved projects. She always participated with such enthusiasms and vigor, the thought of her not being there because she had actively chosen to do something else without him was… upsetting. More so than was reasonable, he thought. Why was he so upset about this? “Well, we’ll always have vacations, right?”

“Yeah,” she replied softly. She fell silent and, for several long moments, just studied his face as if she wouldn’t see him for a long time. He wanted to say something, anything, but was powerless to break her gaze. Then suddenly, she hugged him tightly. Surprised, he put his arms around her and couldn’t help but enjoy how her smaller frame fit against his. These days he spent a lot of time thinking about weird little details like that, how she looked up at him when they talked, her slight shoulders, how soft her hair felt or her long eyelashes. They had hugged millions of times, but  somehow it felt different this time. His heart was racing.

When she finally pulled away (because frankly, he wasn’t going to), she took another moment to just look at him.

Phineas wanted to bend down and kiss her.

What.

WHAT.

His brain short-circuited.

“Anyway, it’s late and I didn’t tell my mom I was coming over. I really need to go. I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” she said and took a few steps backwards to the door.

Frozen to the spot, he nodded mechanically. “Yes, of course. Bye.”

“Bye,” she whispered and gave him a heartbreaking smile. He could see her eyes water again, but she quickly turned around and walked out the front door.

Phineas sat down where he stood.

What just happened? He had just had a thought about kissing Isabella. His best friend (well, besides Ferb). You don’t kiss your best friend. That’s not a normal thing to do. Oh God. Was that a fluke? A weird one time thing that would never happen again, like the time he thought quilting would be a fun activity for a hot summer day?

It must be.

He never had the urge to kiss Isabella before. Okay, well, sometimes, back when they were kids, he would look at her and have a sudden vague sense memory of her lips on his, but it disappeared eventually. But that didn’t count, it wasn’t the same thing.

And if he never had the urge before, why should he suddenly have it now? Ferb described the first time he met Vanessa Doofenshmirtz as ‘love hitting him in the face’ and he had been carrying a torch for her ever since. He met Isabella a long time ago and it was nothing like that. So there. He had always been friends with Isabella and that was how it would always be.

Nothing to see here. Now to deal with more pressing issues.

Phineas got up and went to their room.

“What did Isabella want?” he asked.

“She came over to tell me she approved of the campaign plans I drew up for us,” Ferb replied simply.

“Campaign plans?” Phineas asked curiously.

Ferb held out a blueprint to him, that Phineas took and unrolled on the floor.

“No way! Dude! You guys are going to be the best president and vice president team the school has ever had. If you need any help, just let me know!” he said enthusiastically once he had studied the plans.

Then he remembered. “But why was she crying?”

Ferb shrugged.

“I mean, her entrance was quite dramatic, I can’t imagine that discussing campaign plans was all she wanted. Is she okay?” Phineas asked.

Ferb looked out of the window to the house across the street.

“She will be,” he replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End!
> 
> Ferb makes one very big mistake in this chapter: He thinks that he knows how his brother feels. Turns out he doesn't! ;P


	3. The day of The Night of the Falling Stars dance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This one-shot is about dance invitations, rejected dates and love confession attempts. Kind of angst-y again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place in the summer between their sophomore and junior year of high school. So smack in the middle of their high school time!
> 
> Fun fact: ao3 readers get all chapters early from now on! :D
> 
> While I prefer posting on ao3, I also post all my fics on ff.net. Posting fics here feels a little like talking into the void, since most of the PnF-fans seem to be over at ff.net. :( I don't want to hog the front page spots on ff.net too much, so I try to wait about six days between updates, but it doesn't really matter here, does it? And I really like this chapter and want to share it with someone, even if it's only ten people. <3 So good news for those ten people reading, you guys will get everything straight away, no waiting time. Thanks so much for reading my fic! I love you!

”It’s the Night of the Falling Stars girls' choice dance, tonight,” Phineas informed Ferb while shoveling cereal in his face.

Ferb opened his mouth to reply, but Phineas continued: “It’s weird. Usually Isabella asked us to accompany her by now, you know?”

Ferb nodded. “Well, I-“

“Do you think she might ask someone else this year? She hasn’t even mentioned the dance. Has she said anything to you? Who is she going to ask if not m- us?”

“Actually -“

“Of course, I don’t mind if she asks someone else! I am just curious.”

“I think-“

“Boys?” Their mother stuck her head in the kitchen. Ferb gave up trying to get a word in edgewise.

“Yes, Mom?” Phineas asked cheerily.

“I’ll be busy all day helping Jeremy’s mother choose a gown for their vow renewal - would you mind making some lunch to bring to your father at the store? We don’t have much in the house, so you might have to go grocery shopping,” Mom said.

“Oh, sure! No problem!” Phineas replied.

“Thanks, boys! I left some money on the counter, have a great day!” Their mother waved them goodbye as she left the house.

“Well, Ferb, I guess I know what we’re going to do first today,” Phineas joked.

 

Phineas had just closed the front door behind him and Ferb, when he spotted Isabella stretching in her drive way. She was obviously dressed for exercise, in three quarter leggings and a pink crop top.

Not waiting for Ferb to catch up him, Phineas hurried over to her.

“Hey, Isabella! Watcha doin’?” he called, crossing the street.

She smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Oh, you know, I am about to go running until I want to lie on the ground and die. You?”

“Grocery shopping. You all right?”

“Yeah, I’m just in one of those moods, you know? To exercise until everything hurts. It’s cathartic!” Her smile turned slightly more genuine when her eyes met Ferb’s.

“Well, have fun with that then!” Phineas replied with enthusiasm. “So… the Night of Falling Stars dance is tonight.”

Isabella tensed and started looking at his shoulder rather than his face.

“I- yeah, it is. Actually, I meant to talk to you about that…” she started, but then hesitated, biting her lip.

“Ah, yeah, I was already wondering,” Phineas admitted. “I mean, normally the three of us go together.”

 _Please don’t tell me you have a date,_ he thought pleadingly.

Isabella turned away, seemingly busy pulling her hair into a high ponytail.

“Well, not this year, buddy. Because a little birdie told me that a certain pretty girl is going to ask you to the dance as a date!” she sing-songed. He couldn’t see her face, but her tone was cheery.

 _A date?_ Phineas thought, _Oh my God! Is Isabella going to ask me out on a date? Just the two of us with no Ferb? Is that how this year is going to be different?_

“Yeah?” Phineas asked hopefully.

She still wasn’t looking at them. “Yep! Sally came up to me a week ago and asked me if I had asked you yet and when I told her no, she said that she has really liked you for a while now and would like to ask you herself. And, you know, it didn’t feel right hogging you, when there is a great girl out there that would like to go with you as a real, proper date!”

“Wait- Sally _likes_ me?” Phineas asked.

Finally, she turned back towards him and gave him a weak smile. “Of course! And she’s really great, right? I know you haven’t had your first ever date yet and I didn’t want to ruin your chance. Sally is so nice and Irving said that there isn’t a girl at Danville High who’s more popular than she is. What are you gonna say when she asks you?”

Phineas was completely overwhelmed. This was not how he was expecting the conversation to go.

“I didn’t-“

“Oh my God, I’m so sorry, just ignore me.” she quickly interrupted. She shook her head at herself.  “Wow, that was super rude of me to ask, wasn’t it? _Please_ act surprised when Sally asks you, I don’t want her to know I told you. Anyway, it’s super hot out here right? I think I’m gonna go back inside, you can tell me all about the dance tomorrow.” She quickly turned around to head back inside.

“Um, I thought you were gonna go running?” Phineas asked hesitantly.

Isabella stopped in her tracks. “Oops! Yeah, how silly of me, I totally forgot. So, uhm, I guess I’m gonna head off, I’ll see you guys later!”

But before she could even take a step, Ferb grabbed her shoulder and pulled her slightly towards him. 

 _What is happening right now?_ Phineas asked himself confusedly.

“Are you okay?” Ferb asked with his hand still resting on her shoulder, his thumb brushing back on forth soothingly.

“Yeah,” Isabella answered softly.

“Um, what’s going on?” Phineas asked, but he received no answer.

Ferb then manually pulled up one corner of her lips with his finger and winked, which finally made Isabella break out into a big grin. “Thanks, Ferb.”

“You know, nobody has asked me to the dance yet. Just say the word,” he said, the expression on his face earnest.

 _This can’t be happening_ , Phineas thought, _this is a nightmare. What’s going on? Isabella and Ferb… no way right? Oh my God, there is no way I can watch Isabella and my brother fall in love. I’ll have to move away. Go to that fancy boarding school in Switzerland._

The spiral of despair Phineas’ thoughts had turned into was interrupted by Isabella laughing and playfully punching Ferb in the arm. “You liar! I know for a fact that you have received dozens of invitations!” Ferb just shrugged, a smirk on his face. “Thanks, Ferb, that’s really sweet of you, but it’s fine. I think I’ll have a cosy night in with the man in my life: Pinky!”

Ferb chuckled and finally let Isabella go.

With a real smile on her face, she waved at the two of them. “Have fun at the dance, Phineas, if you decide to go! Tell me all about it tomorrow, yeah?”

“Okay, uhm, sure. Have fun running until you puke!” Phineas said, still unsure what had just happened.

“I will!” Isabella said and ran off.

“Was that weird? I feel like that was weird,” Phineas asked, but Ferb just shrugged. Phineas sighed. Ferb and Isabella had some kind of secret that he wasn’t let in on. It sucked.

“Come on, we need to go get the stuff,” he said. Ferb and him retrieved their hover bikes from the garage and made their way to the grocery store.

 _I guess that settles it then,_ Phineas thought miserably, _Isabella isn’t interested in being more than friends. If some random guy came up to_ ** _me_** _and wanted_ ** _me_** _to move aside in order to ask out Isabella, I would- I don’t know what I’d do, but I definitely would_ ** _not_** _be pushing her into his arms, that’s for sure. This sucks. A lot._

Phineas was doing his very best to not let it show, but he was heart broken.

 _I won’t be able to handle it once she starts dating, I hope she doesn’t find a guy until college and I’m far, far away and never have to see it_ , Phineas thought, listlessly throwing stuff into their cart.

But _Isabella and I could really be something. Something special. Isn’t that something worth fighting for?_

 

True to Isabella’s word, Sally called to ask him to the dance. Ferb and him had just returned to their room after dropping off their father’s lunch (frankly, they might have gone a little overboard with the seven courses, but there was no stopping Ferb once he got started), when Phineas’ cellphone rang.

“It’s Sally,” Phineas said. Ferb gave him a thumbs up and ruffled his hair, before leaving their room to give him some privacy.

He was so not ready for this. He was still hurting from the fact that Isabella had practically handed him over to another girl on a silver platter, there was no way he could do this. He didn’t want to.

Suddenly, Ferb stuck his head back into the room, he must have heard that the phone was still ringing.

“Remember, you are under no obligation to say yes,” Ferb said, before leaving again.

 _He’s right_ , Phineas realized, _I’m really not._

Taking a deep breath, he answered the phone.

“Hello?”

“Hi Phineas!” Sally’s excited voice filtered through the phone, “How are you?”

“Can’t complain,” Phineas said. “How was your summer so far?”

“Not as amazing as yours, I’m sure, but it’s starting to look up,” she answered. Was she trying to flirt? Was that flirting?

“That’s great,” he replied.

“So, anyway, I’m calling to ask you about the Night of the Falling Stars dance tonight. Please, Phineas, will you go to the dance with me?”

He was silent for a moment. “I’m sorry, Sally, you’re a great girl, but I have to decline.”

“Oh, o- okay. Are you already going with someone else?” she asked with a shaky voice. He had never felt so guilty in his life.

“No, I don’t think I’ll go at all actually. I’m not- I don’t think I’d be much fun to be around tonight,” he answered as truthfully as possible.

“Actually, Phineas… I guess this is weird over the phone, but I’ve really liked you for a long time and I was hoping- will you go on a date with me? It doesn’t have to be tonight, we can do it some other time, when you’re more in the mood for it. Anytime really, whenever you’re up to it?”

He pressed his lips together. How was he going to answer that?

_Sorry, Sally, but I’m head over heels in love with Isabella, so I have less than no interest in going out with you. You’re a fantastic girl, but it’s just not going to happen, my type is apparently ‘Beautiful Girl Next Door Who’s Not Afraid Of Anything, Can Fly a Jet Airplane And Can Defeat Evil Villains With Her Smile’  and there’s only one of those._

“I’m really sorry, Sally, but… no. I’m just not interested in dating at the moment.”

“I understand. Sorry for bothering you,” she replied with a thin voice and hung up.

Phineas threw the phone on his bed, where it bounced off and fell to floor, before he buried his face in his hands.

 _Well,_ he thought, _at least this was only a minor disaster._

He let himself fall back onto the bed.

_I feel terrible. I broke Sally’s heart, didn’t I?_

He groaned and rubbed his eyes. Then, there was a knock on the door.

“Who…? Ferb? Come in, dude,”

Ferb opened the door, took in his brother on the bed and the phone on the floor and sighed.

“I told her no,” Phineas said, removing one hand from his face so he could look at his brother. Ferb looked sympathetic.

“It sucked,” he admitted. Ferb made him move aside, so he had enough space to lie down beside him. 

“I know Isabella meant well. She wanted to give Sally a chance to approach me or whatever, but why? I liked the way it was before. I liked the three of us going together. I don’t see why it has to change. Do you think Sally will ever forgive me?” Phineas asked with a sigh.

“I have no doubt that she will,” Ferb said and brushed his shoulder against Phineas’ comfortingly.

“By the way, what did Isabella mean when she said that dozens of girls have asked you to the dance?”

Ferb smirked and tossed him his phone. With a raised eyebrow, Phineas unlocked it only to find more than few messages from various girls asking Ferb to the dance. He hadn’t replied to any of them.

“Ferb! Why didn’t you tell me about this? If you want, you definitely should take one of them up on her offer!”

Ferb took his phone back and looked at it contemplatively. 

“Has Adyson asked you? Don’t think I forgot about that week you wouldn’t shut up about her,” Phineas teased. Ferb cracked a smile and nodded, but he still seemed unsure.

In that moment Ferb’s phone lit up with a new message. Phineas couldn’t see who it was from or what it said, but he could see that Ferb’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open.

He held up his hand in an unmistakable ‘give me a minute’ gesture, before pressing the call button on his phone and holding it up to his ear. While it was presumably ringing, he got off the bed and headed for the door.

“Vanessa?” Phineas could hear Ferb say, before the door closed behind him.

A sudden chattering from beside the bed got his attention. It was Perry with Phineas’ phone clamped between his teeth.

“Oh, there you are, Perry!” Phineas said and picked the little guy up to place him on the bed.

“Thanks,” he said amusedly, as Perry spit out the phone into his outstretched hand.

“If Ferb’s mysterious phone call is going the way I think it is, it’s just gonna be you and me tonight, Perry,” he said, wiping off the drool covered phone on his pants.

Suddenly, he was reminded of something. _“I think I’ll have a cosy night in with the man in my life: Pinky!”_ He looked at Perry, then back at his phone.

“Perry, I know what we’re going to do tonight!” he announced. Perry chattered in reply.

Gathering his courage, he unlocked his phone. He hovered his thumb over the call button for a few seconds, before finally pressing it.

“Hey Phineas!” Isabella’s sweet voice sang through the phone.

“Hi Isabella! How was your run?”

“Oh, it was hell. So just what I wanted!” She said cheerily.

“I’m glad to hear that! Anyway, I was wondering if you have any qualms about making your date with Pinky tonight into a double date?”

“Excuse me?”

“Ferb’s ditching Perry and me for the evening and since - contrary to popular belief - I have no plans to attend the dance tonight, I was hoping Perry and I could join you and Pinky on your cosy night in?”

“Wait - you turned Sally down?”

Phineas sighed. “Yeah. Sorry that I squashed your hopes for Sally and me. But it just wasn’t going to happen. So, tonight? You and me, our pets and your couch?”

“As if I could ever refuse an offer like that.” 

“Wonderful. How about I make an even better one: You and Pinky come over for a cosy night extravaganza in our backyard?” He asked, while gently petting his platypus’ head.

“Hm, alright. But remember: Nothing too outrageous. The key words are ‘comfortable’ and ‘perfect for lazy lounging’. Plus, comfort food. And light hearted movies. Cartoons or something.”

“Your wish is my command. Come over around seven?”

“Pinky and I are looking forward to it.”

 

Ferb was practically beaming when he returned.

“Let me guess: you have a date tonight?” Phineas asked, happy for his brother. Ferb shrugged, but his happiness didn’t seem to dim whatsoever.

“Okay, not a _date_ -date then. But the right girl finally came up to ask you to the dance, huh?” Phineas clarified.

Ferb’s smile said it all.

“That’s great! You have a few hours before you have to leave though, right?”

Ferb nodded.

“That’s good, because I need your help with something…”

 

 _I am going to tell her tonight_ , Phineas told himself. _I need her to know. I need to at least try to convince her to give me a chance, I just know we’d be great together._

His palms were sweaty, as he rushed around finishing off those pesky last minute things.

Ferb had outdone himself this time. In their backyard now stood a truly fantastic pillow fort, the size of a living room. Inside was a home theatre with a big screen, the comfiest couch imaginable, floating fairy lights on the ceiling and a machine that would deliver them snacks with a press of a button. He carried a few more pillows inside, just to make sure there was enough ‘lazy lounging’ space available. Only Ferb could build a pillow fort that seemed more like a pillow _cottage._

 _“_ WOW! This looks _sweet_!”

Phineas jumped and whirled around. Isabella was opening the gate to the backyard, Pinky underneath one arm.

 _Moment of truth_ , he thought.

“Yeah, it turned out great. Let me just grab Perry and we can get started.”

Isabella giggled, rockingslightly on the balls off her heels. She was wearing loose fitting pink sweat pants and a T-Shirt that looked well worn and soft to the touch. He was going to die, she was so cute.

Before he could do something he would regret, he ran inside to get his pet.

“Please don’t disappear on me now, little fella,” Phineas prayed, but his worries were quickly abetted, when he found Perry where he left him, napping on his bed. The platypus opened his eyes, once Phineas picked him up.

“Thank God. Perry, listen to me. Tonight’s mission is of the utmost importance - you’re my wingman here, so I’m counting on you,” Phineas explained while walking back towards Isabella, more for his sake than Perry’s. But Perry’s chattering let him know that his idle blabbering was at least appreciated.

“Got him!” He announced, after he had opened the glass doors leading to the backyard with a flourish.

Laughing, Isabella held out Pinky, so he and Perry could greet each other.

“Awww, they are totally besties, just like their owners,” she said.

“Of course they are!” Phineas agreed and put his arm around Isabella to gently steer her toward the pillow fort.

He could hear Isabella’s breath hitch once they were inside. A pleased smile lit up his face at the sound.

“Phineas, this is _amazing._ I don’t know why I’m still surprised at the brilliant things you can do after all these years.”

Grinning, Phineas pushed Isabella onto the couch, then settled in next to her.

“Nice and cosy, right?” _And romantic_ , he added in his mind.

“For sure!” She answered, slipping out of her shoes, revealing adorably fuzzy socks.

A chatter, a bark, another chatter. Phineas and Isabella turned towards where their pets were sitting, who were not only facing each other but also… communicating?

“What do you think they are talking about?” Isabella asked.

“Now that’s an interesting question! It’s a shame we no longer have our animal translator.”

Suddenly, Pinky jumped onto the couch and desperately tried to squeeze into the narrow space between Isabella and arm of the sofa.

“Pinky, what’s gotten into you?” she asked, but moved over to give Pinky his space anyway.

Phineas thanked his lucky stars that the couch wasn’t very big. He leaned back and _super casually_ slung his arm across the back of the couch.

Pinky happily settled in and, from the looks of it, immediately fell into deep sleep.

“Okay then, I guess he really wanted to sit very close to me,” Isabella said. As she turned sideways to face him, her hair brushed his arm. “So, Phin, tell me what movie we’re going to watch.”

He grinned and grabbed the remote to show her all the movies he had queued up on the big screen.

Isabella leaned back in order to fully appreciate the sheer size of the screen in front of them. She was _so_ close. He really wanted to put his arm around her. Should he move closer? Why was this so hard? It shouldn’t be so hard, right? Maybe he shouldn’t do this.

Just as he was about to move his (seriously super casual) arm back to his side, Perry decided he really wanted to get in on the action right this very second.

He jumped onto the couch and tried to burrow himself between Pinky and Isabella. Pinky opened his eyes and started growling at the platypus for disturbing him. Completely undeterred, Perry continued trying to push Pinky to the side.

“Now, now! Calm down the both of you. There is enough space on this couch for everyone!” Isabella said sweetly. She moved over even further until she was sitting so close to him that they were just about to touch.

But Perry was in one of his moods and decided to take up as much space as possible. He stretched out his legs and arms as far as his little body allowed, pushing against Isabella’s leg as he did so.

Laughing, she let herself fall against Phineas, the back of her head leaning against his shoulder.

“Your platypus is a handful!” she informed him, as Perry finally seemed satisfied with the amount of space he was granted, even though he did not look comfortable in the slightest with all limbs spread out like that.

“Well,” Phineas said, outwardly calm, but a nervous wreck on the inside, “you know what the say. The way of the platypus is a mysterious one.”

Isabella laughed and grabbed the remote from his hand.

“Let’s get this party started!” she announced and started the first movie.

They were fifteen minutes into the film, Phineas was still quietly debating himself wether or not to put his arm around her, when Isabella surprised him by asking “Why didn’t you go to the dance with Sally?”

Phineas tensed up. “I don’t… It didn’t… I guess I didn’t quite feel like it.”

“Oh,” she said, absentmindedly stroking swirls on the fabric of his jeans with her index finger. “It’s just, Sally is not only super pretty, she is also nice and funny and creative. I thought I was doing you a favor, but I just ended up putting you in an awkward situation, didn’t I?”

Her voice sounded so dejected, that Phineas immediately wanted to reassure her (despite the fact that she really had done just that). “No, of course not. You were very thoughtful! I just really liked the way things were before. I don’t want to go to the dance with anyone else.”

Phineas couldn’t understand why Isabella was looking at him with such sad eyes, when her mouth was smiling.

“You will though,” she said, “I guess I thought it’d be easier to accept whoever will replace me as your number one girl when I had a hand in getting you together.”

Phineas took Isabella’s hand and squeezed it tightly.

“No way!” he said, “No one will ever replace you as my number one girl.”

She giggled, but it sounded sad. “Sure, that’s easy to say now. But then you’ll get a girlfriend and forget all about me.”

“Excuse me? Are you doubting my word?” Phineas teased. “Are you saying that if you got a boyfriend, you’d forget all about me, too?”

Isabella seemed confused even by the suggestion. “Of course not. As if I could ever forget Phineas Flynn.”

“So there, the feeling’s mutual,” he said with satisfaction. Isabella shook her head, but at least her smile seemed more sincere now.

“Okay then, you’ve got yourself a deal, Flynn. Best friends forever, may no significant other ever tear us apart!” she announced and pulled her hand from underneath his to hold it out to him for a proper handshake.

Something inside Phineas faltered. _Best friends._

“Sure,” he replied, doing his best to not let any of his inner turmoil show. “Best friends forever.”

He shook her hand.

 _And nothing more_ , he added internally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how did you like it? I have another one-shot ready to go, should I wait a day or just post it right now?


	4. The day of the Helen-Penelope-Milkshake theory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phineas realizes he may have more competition for Isabella's heart than he thought. This chapter is pure crack-y, silly fun. If you don't like gushing about Isabella and fics that are purely self-indlugent, I would recommend you skip this one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic takes place maybe their sophomore year? Or junior? It's not that important in this case.

“Give up, Sam. It’s just not happening,” Isabella replies with an eye-roll and a grin as she stuffs her books into her locker.

“You say that every day,” the boy standing next to her sighs dramatically. Then he winks at her, “One of these days you’ll agree to a date, you’ll see.”

Isabella laughs. “I don’t think so,” she sing-songs and closes the locker with a push off her hips.

The boy grabs his chest in mock-pain. “How you wound me!” Dropping the act from one moment to the next, he says “Anyway, I gotta jet, football practice starts in, like, five minutes. See you at the big game tomorrow?”

“Duh, a cheerleader can’t miss the big game now, can she?” Isabella says, “See you there, Sam!”

“Yeah, see you there!” he calls, before heading outside.

 _Seriously, every day the same spiel with him,_ Isabella thinks. Sam has asked her out every day since the school year started and while she at first had been very apologetic when rejecting him, his continued persistence had slowly chipped away at her patience as well as her polite demeanor. But strangely, the daily banter that followed had eventually become kind of… _fun_. While she and Sam couldn’t exactly be called _friends_ , they were definitely friend- _ly_ and him asking her out on dates (and her promptly refusing) had become something like a running gag for the two of them. She found that she kind of enjoyed it.

She turns around only to suddenly find herself five centimeters away from someone’s chest clad in a Union Jack T-Shirt. Startled, she backs up two steps and looks the guy in the face.

“Ferb! I didn’t notice you standing there!”

Ferb shrugs and gives her a smile. God, when did he grow so tall? It seems like yesterday when they were the exact same height. She looks to Ferb’s right to see Phineas seemingly engrossed in thought, staring vacantly at the school’s doors. She turns to see what Phineas is looking at, but can only catch a glimpse of Sam’s back as the school’s doors close behind him.

“Hey Phineas, whatcha looking at?” she asks.

“Hm?” He finally looks at her. “Oh, nothing. I just- if this Sam guy is bothering you…”

Isabella rolls her eyes, but can’t quite suppress a smile. “Eh, you know how he is. But seriously, you don’t need to worry, Sam is super harmless. He doesn’t even really mean it anymore, it’s more like this joke now.”

Phineas’ face brightens. “Ah, I see. Well, okay, then-“

“If you don’t think Sam would jump at the chance to score a date with you then you’re even more of a dill weed than I thought,” Buford suddenly interrupts, coming seemingly out of nowhere. “And spoiler alert: I already thought you were a pretty big dill weed.”

Phineas turns to Buford with alarm, he opens his mouth to ask for clarification when Isabella cuts him off.

“Oh, hey, Buford,” she greets, “Where were you in French? You seriously can’t miss any more classes, or Ms Greenbridge will-“

“Don’t come at me with stupid French, as if I’m not already fluent-“

“Wait, wait, back up a second!!” Phineas interrupts their exchange forcefully. Isabella and Buford fall silent at his uncharacteristic outburst. ”So you are saying that Sam is _not_ just kidding? He means it?”

Buford sighs as if the entire world was too stupid for him. “Duh. Trust me, that guy is desperate to get into Isabella’s pa-“ Buford stutters as Ferb shoots him a look. “I mean, in Isabella’s good graces.”

“Seriously? Still? It’s been months!” Isabella says, ignoring Phineas spluttering next to Ferb. “He has to have gotten by now that I will never go out with him!”

“You’re a hot commodity in these parts, Isabella,” says Buford unapologetically, “So far, Sam has come closer to snatching you up than everyone else whose tried. He is not going to drop out of the race when he’s in the lead now, is he?”

Phineas, who had been growing increasingly distressed, grabs Buford’s arm. “What?! There is a race? How-? What-? Wait a second, Sam is in the lead?!” He suddenly lets go of Buford and turns to Isabella, “Sam is in the lead!?” he repeats.

“I have completely lost track of this conversation,” Isabella sighs and rubs her forehead, “Please explain what you mean by ‘snatching’ me, Buford.”

Buford groans. “You can’t be that dense. If Danville High was the _Illiad,_ ** _you_** would be Helen. Catch my drift?”

Isabella just blinks at him, uncomprehending.

“Come on! You’re like Danville High’s Penelope without the absent husband, you’re-“

She finally interrupts him, “God, Buford, I get the Greek metaphors, okay? But you have to be mistaken, because… because!”

“Hate to break it to ya,” Buford says, sounding everything but sorry, “But your milkshake brings all the boys to the yard. And according to the high school grapevine, Sam is the only guy you haven’t outright ignored all year, so all the money is on him.”

“On Sam,” Isabella repeats, “…’snatching’ me up.” She mimics the quotation marks with her hands.

“Yup,” Buford confirms.

“… huh,” Isabella says calmly, while her mind slowly digests this new information.

Phineas, on the other hand, is anything but calm. “Is that all you have to say? ‘Huh’? I mean, there is a race? How am I… I didn’t even know there was… all the boys want Isabella’s milkshake?”

“Sounds about right,” Buford says, already growing bored with this conversation and fiddling with his phone.

Phineas sighs and turns to his brother. “Did you know about this, Ferb?”

Ferb just blinks at him and points to Isabella’s locker, on which not one, not two, but THREE different invitations to home coming had been stuck. The invitations were from seniors too, if Phineas could make out the names correctly.

 _There is no way I even stand a chance against all these guys! I didn’t even know there was a race, for goodness’ sake,_ Phineas thinks miserably. Suddenly, the school transforms in front of his eyes. Were previously had been friendly faces and new friendships to be made, are now evil scoundrels waiting to snatch up Isabella first chance they got. 

“Isabella, let us give you a ride home,” Phineas says, as he starts pushing Isabella towards the exit.

“What, no, that’s not necessary. You can go home now and I still have cheerleading practice and a debate club meeting. I don’t want you to wait for me,“ Isabella protests, but he won’t have it.

“I _insist,_ ” he says, carefully steering clear of a guy who looks as if he is about to approach them.

 

* * *

 

 

**SPECIAL BONUS: The next day**

 

“It’s true!” Isabella announces as she slams her lunch tablet on their table, startling Phineas out of his slightly embarrassing daydream.

“What’s true?” asks Phineas, secretly thrilled that she chose to have lunch with them today, since most of the time she spends her lunch period pursuing one of her many, many extracurriculars.

“The Helen-Penelope-Milkshake thing!” Isabella replies, as if it should have been obvious. “I had to know if Buford was making stuff up last week, so I tested it.”

Phineas does not like the sound of that. “You tested it?”

“Yep. Turns out it’s true. Helen, Penelope, milkshakes - the whole enchilada.”

Phineas REALLY does not like the sound of that. He clears his throat awkwardly. “Umm… care to elaborate on how you tested Buford’s hypothesis?”

“I went to the mall yesterday - by myself - and made pretty eyes at all the male sales personnel around our age,” she explains, while dunking a fry in ketchup.

“Ah,” Phineas croaks, “and what happened?”

Isabella just looks at him for a second, before picking up her bag and emptying its contents onto the table. A three or four handfuls of stuff falls out of her bag - make up samples, small stuffed animals, candy, sparkly pens and plastic bracelets.

“Okay…” Phineas says, not quite catching on. “What’s all this?”

“This is all the stuff I got at the mall yesterday.”

“…okay?”

“Phineas. I did not spend a single dollar yesterday. Not one.”

Phineas looks at the pile of stuff again. Stuff that some guys gave to her in the hopes of impressing a pretty girl who was flirting with them.

“Wow,” he says, while Ferb whistles appreciatively next to him.

“You can say that again,” Isabella replies while stuffing everything back into her bag.

“Just remember,” Ferb adds, “with great power comes great responsibility.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really love Isabella. Does it come across in this fic that Isabella is my favorite character and that I think everybody should adore her? Don't worry this will pretty much be the only chapter this blatant. Fun fact: This was actually the first of the one-shots that I wrote, lol.


	5. The day Isabella was hypnotized

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isabella gets hypnotized to see the world the way she did when she was ten. And causes havoc in the process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story is based on a request from ff.net user mrdbznarutofan. Here is the exact request:
> 
> ”My request is that a hypnotist comes to the high school, and isabella accidentally gets hypnotized while listening from the audience. Then, the hypnotist tells her (the volunteers, unknowingly addressing Isabella as well) that when she wakes up, she will do a certain thing.”
> 
> Um, it got a little out of hand? And I don't think I emphasized the hypnosis element enough? It kind of became a Fireside Girl-centric fic with some side analysis on how Isabella changed from childhood to young adulthood. Yeah.
> 
> This story takes place during their senior year!

“FERB FLETCHER!” Isabella’s voice rang loudly through the hallway. Next to Phineas, Ferb winced. He tried to make himself as small as possible, but it was too late.

Isabella had already seen him.

Phineas couldn’t even blame his brother. He barely recognized Isabella some days. She was not only always busy, she was also rigorous, serious and 100% goal oriented. It was like she forgot how to live in the moment.

With fire in her eyes and purpose in her steps, she marched up to them and grabbed Ferb by the arm.

“You! We agreed last week that as president and vice president of this school we were going to attend every single event of Healthy Eating week,” she started, as she dragged Ferb along towards the school’s auditorium. “In fact, it was _your_ suggestion.”

“What is going on?” Phineas asked as he followed Isabella and Ferb down the hallway.

“Your brother,” she said, “was trying to weasel his way out of attending this lecture.”

Phineas looked at Ferb for conformation, but he was busy pouting.

“That doesn’t sound like him. What lecture are you talking about?” he asked.

Isabella fished a schedule out of her pocket.

“ _How Hypnosis Can Help You Lead A Healthier Life_ ” she read out loud.

“Ah, yes, that explains it,” Phineas said, “you know how superstitious Ferb is. He doesn’t trust hypnotists.”

“They have mysterious powers and can control your mind,” Ferb said with utter seriousness.

Isabella stopped in her tracks and turned to look at him. “Seriously? But you’re a man of science!”

Phineas grinned and nudged his brother with his elbow playfully. “You should hear his thoughts on vampires.”

Isabella smirked and raised her eyebrows. “Really?”

In that second, Phineas could see the real Isabella shine through the mask she usually wore during the school year. The mischievous, unafraid and fun girl he was so fond of. The girl she turned into once she entered his backyard. _Summer Vacation_ -Isabella. He saw her less and less these days.

But the moment was over, as soon as it began.

“We don’t have time for this. The lecture is about to start and we need to be there, front and center. Thankfully, I got Buford to save us some seats in the front row,” she said.

“Yeah, no, you didn’t,” Buford suddenly said from behind her.

“What? Buford!”

“The front row is totally empty, come on. Only nerds sit there!” Buford said.

“For your sake, I really hope so,” she said with narrowed eyes, then she continued pulling Ferb along into the auditorium.

Not knowing what else to do, Phineas followed along.

“Oh good, it hasn’t started yet,” Isabella said with relief as they entered the auditorium.

True to Buford’s word, the front row was completely empty. Isabella didn’t even hesitate and pushed Ferb into one of the middle seats, before sitting down herself. Phineas sat down on the other side of her.

They had arrived just in time for the lecture.

The hypnotist had barely even entered the stage, when the giggling started. He was a very short man in a lab coat with white hair and glasses.

“Hello kids, I’m Dr. Diminutive!” the man said, his voice dripping with false cheer.

Isabella shot the two teenagers who started laughing behind her a stern look, but that didn’t seem to deter them.

The lecture only went downhill from here. Dr. Diminutive could barely get out a full sentence without being mocked and ridiculed by his teenaged audience.

“Several studies have shown that in certain people-“

He was interrupted by someone loudly cackling.

“-hypnosis can lead to weight loss of-“

A loud “those people are idiots!” could be hear through the room.

“- over ten pounds in less than-“

“Boooring,” a girl said.

He stopped talking.

“Well, then, how about a demonstration? You!” he pointed at Cindy, who had interrupted earlier, “And you!” he pointed to Jackson, “You two will now come up here and be my volunteers as I demonstrate hypnosis techniques.”

The two students walked up to the stage.

He made them sit down before trying to put them into a trance-like state.

“Your body starts feeling heavier and heavier as your mind becomes calmer and calmer,” he said slowly.

Jackson just continued chewing his gum. “Why are you so short? Are you a freak or something?”

Cue laughter from the audience.

Dr. Diminutive breathed heavily. “As you feel your body relax, you start feeling sleepy,” he continued.  
“This is, like, dumb,” Cindy said, inspecting her nails.

Dr. Diminutive lost it.

“I can’t believe I gave up evil for this! Dealing with Agent Silent G is better than dealing with you brats!” he ranted, as he grabbed a remote control from his briefcase. He pointed it at the two teenagers on stage and zapped them with a green beam, upon which they immediately fell into a deep trance.

“Are you seeing this?” Phineas whispered to Isabella concernedly, without tearing his eyes away from the spectacle in front of him. When she didn’t reply, he looked over to find her sleeping.

But then Dr. Diminutive continued: “Last week I visited an elementary school! Those kids were charming! Not like _you_! So listen up: You will see the world like you did when you were ten years old every time I say- DOOFENSHMIRTZ!?”

In that moment, their science teacher Dr. Doofenshmirtz ran on stage and wrestled the remote control out of his hands.

“Hahaha, Stanley, have you forgotten to take your meds again?” Dr. D said with forced casualness, as he held onto the struggling hypnotist tightly. “Um, attention students! This lecture is over! It’s best if you all just went back to class.”

“But what about Cindy?” somebody asked and pointed to the girl in question, still sitting on stage in trance.

“Oh right!” Doofenshmirtz said, “Let me see, how do I do this…? I have to say something like ‘when you hear the word _almond brittle_ everything will be back to normal’, right?”

“Or you could use the remote control’s reverse button,” Dr. Diminutive muttered as if Doofenshmirtz was a total moron.

“Oh, of course, here let me just…” Doof fumbled with the remote before zapping Cindy and Jackson again, who immediately snapped out of it.

“Great!” he said. “Now everyone can go back to class!” As he dragged Dr Diminutive off the stage, he muttered: “But now that I said it I really do want some almond brittle…” 

Isabella woke up.

“What just happened?” she asked in confusion, rubbing her eyes.

“That’s what I want to know. Maybe Ferb is onto something with his hypnotist thing,” Phineas replied.

“Is the lecture already over?” Isabella said.

“Yeah, you kind of fell asleep for a minute there. Are you okay?” Phineas asked.

“I think so? Did I really fall asleep? I mean, I guess I haven’t been getting much sleep lately,” she murmured.

Phineas placed his hand on her back and led a still somewhat disoriented Isabella out of the auditorium.

“Hey, since the lecture ended early, we still have some time to kill before our next period. Wanna hang out?” he asked, trying his best to repress any eagerness. Ferb saw Isabella in student council meetings all the time, but he hadn’t had a chance to spend any real time with her since Summer vacation ended.

“Sorry, can’t. I should really use this unexpected extra time to finish my article for the student newspaper,” she said apologetically.

Phineas curbed his disappointment. “Sure, yeah, see you at lunch then?”

“Thursdays my book club has lunch together,” she replied, it was obvious that she was mentally somewhere else already.

“Right. Well, I guess I’ll see you around?” he asked, crushed.

“Yeah. Bye, Phineas. Bye, Ferb.”

She hadn’t even taken two steps when she was stopped by Ginger, who had been going through her locker nearby.

“Hey, Isabella, do you have a second?” she asked.

“Ginge!” She smiled. “What’s up?”

“Will you be my partner for the upcoming science project? Dr Doofenshmirtz-“

For a split second, Isabella went rigid before relaxing again.

“-said we could choose ourselves.”

“Um, duh! Us Fireside Girls need to stick together, right?” Isabella said with a smile.

Ginger raised an eyebrow. “…yeah, I guess? Anyway, cool. Talk to you later in class?”

“You betcha!” 

Ginger smiled, before going back to her locker.

Much to Phineas’ surprise, Isabella turned back to the stepbrothers.

“Hey Phineas, does the offer to hang out still stand?” she asked, tilting her head cutely to the side.

“Of course. But I thought you needed to write your article?”

“Eh, I’ll do it during dinner,” she waved off with little concern. Her big eyes shined with curiosity when she said, “Now, I want you tell me _everything_ about your latest projects. I can’t believe I’ve let myself miss so many of them!”

Tentatively, joy bloomed in his chest. “Really? I mean… are you sure you have the time?”

She snorted. “Are you crazy? What could possibly be more interesting than your physics-defying exploits?”

“Well, yesterday after school we turned the floor of our house into an aquarium.”

“Come on, that’s what you start with? Cold glass floors? You gotta do better than that,” she said teasingly, a smirk on her face.

“I’ll try! We’d appreciate your input for today’s after school activity actually. We’re still wavering between all-terrain motorcycles and a virtual reality board game. Thoughts?”

“Wow,” Isabella gushed, “Both sound super fun! Man, I wish I could be there.”

“We’d love to have you!” Phineas assured her quickly, “You have to know that you are always welcome. When are you done for today? I will- I mean, we will wait up for you.”

“You’d do that for me?” she asked.

“Absolutely!”

She smiled at him adoringly. 

“That would be great!” She looked at the floor as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, “Hey, maybe afterwards you and I could…?”

She hesitated and Phineas held his breath. She was about to continue, when Ginger, who had been close enough the whole time to have overheard their conversation, grabbed Isabella’s arm.

“Wow, honey, we need to talk right now. Sorry guys! Gotta kidnap her for a second.”

Ignoring Isabella’s protests, she pulled her friend into a nearby empty classroom.

xx

“You were about to ask out Phineas!” Ginger whispered excitedly once she had closed the door.

“I know. I was there,” Isabella answered, rolling her eyes.

Ginger squealed. “I knew it! I knew the whole “I’m over Phineas”-thing was only a phase!”

“How could I ever be over him?” Isabella sighed dreamily, “He’s the very thing I live for.”

“Aww, you sound just like when you were ten! This is so exciting. We have to come up with a battle plan!” Ginger fished out her phone. “Let me text the others to meet up at mine after school.”

“Sorry, Ginge, I can’t. I am going over to Phineas’ house,” Isabella replied.

“Of course you are!” Ginger teased. “So, what’s the plan?”

“Graduation is only in a few short months, we have to strike fast. I am thinking _Operation: All In._ ”

Ginger frowned. “What? _Operation: All In_ is crazy, that’s why we scrapped it. What about debate club? We have an important debate coming up next week.”

Isabella didn’t seem particularly worried. “I know, but we graduate this year and then we’ll all go our separate ways for college! I have to tell him how I feel NOW. That’s more important than anything else.”  
Now Ginger was concerned. “Woah, slow down, girl. That’s a grade of Phineas-obsession you haven’t even come close to in years. Are you all right?”

“I’ve never been better. Look, Ginge, can I count on you or not?” Isabella asked, every inch the fearless leader she used to be.

“You can always count on me, Chief.”

Isabella smiled. “Wonderful! Then signal the others. _Operation: All In_ starts in T minus ten minutes.”

xx

A few hours later, Ferb’s phone chimed with a new text just when he was about to head to lunch.

After subtly looking around to make sure that there were no teachers around, he quickly checked his messages. It was a text from Milly.

**_Isabella gave the signal to start Operation: All In. Apparently her crush is back on???_ **

Ferb couldn’t believe it. Even if Isabella decided to pursue his brother again, she would not resort to a tactic as desperate as _Operation: All In_. He quickly texted back:

**_Something is wrong. Proceed with caution. Thanks for the warning._ **

Then he put his phone away again and took a deep breath.

First things first: He had to find Phineas.

But when he rounded the corner to his brother’s algebra classroom, he found that he was already too late.

There was Isabella innocently chatting to Phineas.

He checked his watch, lunch hour had already started, Isabella should be meeting her book club right about now. He approached the pair cautiously.

“So, Phineas, Love Händel is on world tour right now. Did you know that they are playing a concert in Tokyo this weekend?” she asked, twirling a strand of hair on her finger.

“Really? Cool,” Phineas said, then he spotted his brother. “Hey, Ferb, I’ve been waiting for you!”

Isabella turned around and tried to hide her annoyed expression.

Wow, Ferb had forgotten that Isabella used to want him to _not_ be around. He had really been enjoying their easy friendship that had only been strengthened since she gave up on Phineas. It hurt a little to remember how Isabella used to see him as an obstacle to Phineas’ affection first and as a good friend second.

She sighed and gave him a resigned smile. “Hey, Ferb, nice to see you.”

“Isabella, have you decided to have lunch with us after all?” Phineas asked cheerfully.

“Yeah, definitely!” she answered.

Ferb frowned. This was not the responsible Isabella she had grown into.

They made their way to the cafeteria, when the (Ex-)Fireside Girls intercepted them by the doors. It was odd to see the entire group together like that. While the seven girls had remained close friends and still met up for regular sleepovers and chitchat, they had all branched out since childhood and weren’t the inseparable group they used to be.

Phineas faltered when he saw the girls waiting.

“Hello, ladies. Um, are you going to join us as well?” he asked. 

Was Ferb imagining things or did Phineas sound almost… disappointed?

“Not today, Phineas,” Gretchen reassured him, “We actually need to borrow your brother for a bit.”

Ferb’s eyes widened. They were actually going along with this!

“Sorry!” Milly whispered, as she and Adyson flanked each of his arms.

“You don’t mind, do you, Ferb?” asked Gretchen with a sweet smile.

He gave her a knowing look, but Gretchen just shrugged.

“It’s important!” Holly said. Since she was the editor in chief of the school newspaper she added “Student body president emergency. I need him for an urgent interview.”

“Oh,” Phineas said and turned to Isabella “Does that mean you have to go as well?”

“Nope!” Holly quickly said, “Only Ferb! Isabella can stay!”

With the efficiency of soldiers Milly and Adyson dragged Ferb away. The other girls followed, but Ginger and Katie separated from them as soon as Isabella and Phineas were out of eyesight.

 

They brought him into the empty A/V room. When Milly pulled out the keys, she just shrugged innocently and said: “I borrowed them from Irving.” The other girls nodded knowingly.

After checking that nobody had seen them, Gretchen closed the door and zeroed in on Ferb.

“Okay, Ferb, tell us everything you know,” she said urgently.

“Excuse me?” he said.

“Isabella sent a group text saying that today’s soccer practice will take place in your backyard. We have the girls soccer finals coming up, we don’t have time to play around in some virtual reality sports video game or something,” Adyson said worriedly, while handing Ferb a lunch bag.

He accepted the bag gratefully, Fireside Girls really do think of everything.

“She asked me if she could write an article on Phineas for the newspaper,” Holly added.

“She is planning to have Phineas make the new cheerleading uniforms we’ve been working so hard to get funding for! It’s like she forgot her own resolution to not take the easy road anymore. Let’s face it, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out who’s to thank for our troop earning the most patches in Fireside Girl history,” Milly said.

“And the worst part is, it’s all so sudden!” Gretchen said. Then her phone chimed with a new text message. “It’s Ginger. Apparently Isabella is laying it on thick. She says it’s kind of embarrassing.”  
“This is by far the worst relapse so far,” Holly noted, “Nothing like the relapse of sophomore year, where she spent two whole days crying and watching Disney Princess movies.”

At Ferb’s confused look Holly added: “We didn’t tell you about that one, it was pretty sad.”  
“Not as sad as this one!” Gretchen cried, “Ginger said Isabella started a new wedding scrapbook in art class.”

Adyson sighed. “According to Ginger, Isabella said and I quote ‘He’s the very thing I live for’. I mean, she hasn’t said that since…”

“… we were ten,” the girls all finished in unison.

Suddenly it dawned on Ferb.

“ _You will see the world like you did when you were ten years old.”_

_“You kind of fell asleep for a minute there. Are you okay?”_

The lecture.

Isabella was asleep. No. _In trance._

“She was hypnotized,” Ferb realized.

“What?” Gretchen asked.

“During today’s lecture, she was hypnotized to act the way she did when she was ten,” Ferb explained quickly and jumped up.

“Oh God, so this isn’t actually a relapse? We need to help her before she does something she regrets,” Milly said, frantically packing things back into her bag.

“How can we de-hypnotize her?” Gretchen asked, as they rushed out of the A/V room and towards the cafeteria.

Ferb racked his brain, but he couldn’t quite remember. Dr. Doofenshmirtz had used a machine to free Cindy and Jackson from the spell they were under, but there was no way they would get access to it now that the hypnotist had been led away in handcuffs. He would have to build one right after school.

“We can figure that out later, first we need to get her away from Phineas,” Holly called.

Katie had obviously been on guard duty, because they met her in front of the cafeteria doors.

“What are you guys doing back already?” she asked, “I just managed to get rid off Irving before he could interfere.”

“ _Operation: All In_ is to be halted immediately. Code: Juliet’s been poisoned,” Gretchen commanded.

Katie gasped. “Crap.”

xx

“It’s so fun to spend time just the two of us!” Isabella said casually, popping a grape into her mouth.

“Yeah, totally!” Phineas replied. _Did that sound too eager?_ , he worried. “Not that I don’t want Ferb around. I always want Ferb to be there!”

She sighed. “Of course you do. So, I’ve been wondering, we already made so many plans for this week…”

“I know, the fundraiser, new uniforms, virtual reality soccer practice, that interview… It’ll be like summer vacation!”

She smiled. “Yeah. Anyway, when we’re done with all that, I would really like it if… You know, I’ve always felt that…”

“Isabella! Hey!”

Isabella startled at the interruption.

“Adyson? Gretchen? FERB? What- I thought you guys had to do _an interview?”_ she asked with narrowed eyes.

“Change of plans!” Holly announced, “Turns out we do need the student body vice president for this very important article I’m writing.”  
Isabella gave Phineas a tight smile before whispering to Gretchen: “This is entirely against protocol. What about _Operation: All In_?”

“Postponed indefinitely,” Gretchen whispered back. “Look, don’t do anything drastic and meet us at Ginger’s after school, okay?”

Isabella frowned. “Why? It’s been going well!”

“I’ll explain later. Isabella, please, trust me on this. We’re Fireside Girls, remember? I would never act against your best interests.”

Isabella hesitated for a second, before nodding. She gave Phineas a wave before following the girls outside. Ferb, on the other hand, decided to stay and unpacked the lunch bag Adyson gave him. The girls had stolen enough of his lunch period.

“Something is going on,” Phineas told his brother.

Ferb shrugged innocently.

“I mean, Isabella is being weird, don’t you think?” Phineas continued.

His brother paused in unwrapping his sandwich. “Weird how?”

“Well, look at all the plans we’ve already made for this week,” Phineas pointed out, showing Ferb the blueprints he had drawn, “I don’t think we’ve spent that much time together during the school year since middle school.”

Ferb scrutinized his brother. He was usually so oblivious… was Phineas starting to catch on?

“And then, before she left she…” Phineas scratched his ear. “It sounded like she wanted to ask me something. Like, she was about to tell me something important…”

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” Ferb assured him.

Phineas deflated. “If you say so.”

But for the rest of his lunch period, Phineas could think of nothing else but what Isabella was going to tell him. It didn’t _sound_ like nothing. She sounded serious, urgent.

Anxiety started to gnaw at him.

Phineas and Ferb had just split up to go to their separate classes, when he just couldn’t take it anymore. Instead of heading to English Literature, he took a left and walked towards Isabella’s next class instead.

He saw her just as she was about to enter the classroom.

“Isabella! Can I talk to you?” he called over.

She hesitated, but approached him anyway. They came to a stop right before the door to the principal’s office.

“Hey, sorry I had to leave so quickly,” she replied.

“No problem,” he said, “Look, what did you mean to tell me earlier? It sounded important.”

Isabella bit her lip. “Oh, well, I can’t really… Gretchen said not to- I mean, I don’t know…”

She was wringing her hands and Phineas was even more worried now.

“Come on, please. You know you can tell me anything,” he said gently.

She let out a breath. “Okay.” She looked him in the eyes. “Phineas, ever since we were kids I’ve always wanted to tell you how ridiculously in lo-“  
Suddenly the door they were standing in front of opened and Principal Long stormed out. “THE NEXT PERSON TO SUBMIT A REQUEST FOR MORE ALMOND BRITTLE IN THE CAFETERIA WILL BE FIRED!” Then he spotted the two teenagers. “What are you two doing here? Class has started! No canoodling in front of my office!”

“We’re sorry, sir. We’ll get right back to class right away,” Phineas reassured him.

Principal Long nodded and retreated back into his office.

“Okay, you were saying?” he pressed.

Isabella just looked him, utterly confused.

“What? No! No, nothing. It’s not important. Just go back to class, okay? I want to keep up my GPA or else I can forget a full ride scholarship. I can’t be caught skipping classes. I have to go. See you later, Phin,” Her tone was cool and detached.

“Oh,” Phineas murmured,  “Sure. Bye.”

He watched as Isabella went to class without looking back once, before slouching back to his own classroom, trying to curb his disappointment.

God, for a second he thought Isabella might actually confess to liking him back. As if that could ever happen. He was so in the friendzone there.

 

 

**AND FOR YOUR PLEASURE - A TINY EPILOGUE:**

 

Later, at Ginger’s house, the girls were trying to explain to a disbelieving Isabella all the things she had set in motion.

“Tell me I did not do that,” she groaned.

“You did! I can call Leigh right now and have him confirm it. You were going to let Phineas handle the fundraiser,” Holly said with a little too much glee.

“No, I am over him! I am!” Isabella said.

“Well, you were singing a different tune a few hours ago,” Gretchen replied. “Something must have reversed the hypnosis effect.”

“But a different word might set it off again?” Isabell asked for confirmation.

“Yep.”

“Then I’m a ticking time bomb! I can’t be trusted with anything until we have fixed this!” Isabella said.

“Don’t worry, Ferb will come over with his newest thingamajig and fix you,” Milly said with a smirk.

“Thank God!” Isabella replied.

“But you know… for a second there it was kind of nice,” Ginger admitted.

“What was?” Adyson asked.

“Us being a group. Isabella being the fearless leader and sending us on crazy missions. Having tasks and commands and codewords. We haven’t done any of that since we were kids.”

“I kind of got swept up in it,” Gretchen conceded.

“Me too. Isabella starts talking in this commanding tone and I just want to salute and say ‘Yes, ma’am!’. I miss being a Fireside Girl,” Holly sighed.

“Maybe that’s why it was so easy to fall back into old patterns,” Katie pointed out.

The girls all looked at each other before falling into an emotional group hug.

“Let’s have sleepover soon!” Isabella cried.

The other girls nodded.

“Um… am I interrupting something?” Ferb asked from the doorway, newest thingamajig in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END.
> 
> I have no idea how I feel about this chapter. It is not as full of pining as I would like it to be. It's also not as whacky. In retrospect I would probably write it definitely?


End file.
